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The love fest known as the Experience Columbus annual meeting featured singing and dancing,
slick videos and glowing statistics from the recent accomplishments of the city’s convention and
visitors bureau.

Mayor Michael B. Coleman also chipped in, saying that to become a great city, “you need to
believe in yourself, and that’s what swagger is all about.”

But beneath all this enthusiasm was the realization that Experience Columbus has a lot of work
to do to accomplish some lofty goals.

At last year’s annual meeting, Experience Columbus officials lobbied for a bigger cut of the
city’s 10 percent bed tax. This week, the city council fulfilled its wish, increasing the
organization’s share to 2.19 percent this year and 2.57 percent in 2013.

That will mean $6.9 million from the city this year and $8.1 million in 2014, according to
Experience Columbus estimates. City projections put the totals at $7.3 million this year and $8.5
million the next.

“I now have the best job in the hospitality industry,” Brian Ross told the crowd. He was named
Experience Columbus CEO in January, moving up from vice president of sales.

Ross outlined “Destination Columbus,” a five-year plan to make Columbus a bigger player in the
convention and tourist markets. One of the goals is to increase the number of meetings that book
750 or more rooms per night to 46, up from the current yearly total of 28.

Another goal is to add 5,500 new jobs locally.

“You’re going to see a more aggressive, competitive attitude as we carry out our mission to sell
and market the very best of our region,” Ross said, adding that meetings and tourism already pump
$7.8 billion a year into the local economy.

“But that’s out of a $40 billion Ohio industry,” he said. “We’re going to take more of that
market share from our neighbors across the state, and from across the nation.”

Ross and his team have a solid base to build upon.

In 2012, Experience Columbus booked future meetings that will account for 408,251 room nights, a
3.2 percent increase from the number of future-room nights it booked in 2011.

The city’s hotel occupancy rate was 62 percent in 2012, up from 59.5 percent the year before.
The average daily room rate was $85.77, up 5.4 percent.

Experience Columbus opened sales offices in Washington, D.C., and Chicago last year, the two
cities with the most national associations, Ross said.

The opening of the 532-room Hilton Downtown Columbus in October will allow the organization to
go after about 900 national meetings it previously couldn’t seek because of the low number of
full-service hotel rooms near the convention center.

However, the additional rooms at the Hilton will create some short-term occupancy-rate
issues.

“That’s about an additional 196,000 room-nights a year, and we have to sell 126,000 just to
maintain the same occupancy rate (of 2012),” Ross said before the annual meeting. “That won’t
happen this year. At best, we’ll maintain the same occupancy rate or see a slight decrease.”

The bed taxes collected from the Hilton will be used to pay off the bonds that funded
construction of the hotel, which means Experience Columbus won’t get a percentage.

“That’s about $1.8 million in bed-tax revenue we won’t get this year and next,” said Jodi
Beekman, Experience Columbus vice president of finance and administration.

“But we’re willing to sacrifice the bed tax because we know it was the right thing to do.”

The key to the bureau reaching its goals, said Ross and other local leaders, is the continued
public-and-private partnerships that paved the way for the Hilton, Columbus Commons and Scioto
Mile.

“This is a great opportunity, and we need to take advantage of it,” city council President
Andrew Ginther said. “But it won’t happen overnight. This is a five-year plan, and with these
resources, they will realize it.”